


like his daughter

by InkWitch (serkestic)



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 20:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3868693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serkestic/pseuds/InkWitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I want a girl,” said Tora, “so she’ll be like me. Follow in my footsteps. Plus,” he grinned, “the odds are already stacked high against a girl, so when she finally succeeds, it’ll taste so much sweeter to her. And me,” he added in afterthought.<br/>“You’re such a guy,” sighed Shinju. </p><p>[for <a href="http://gouallout.tumblr.com">gouallout</a>: day 3]</p>
            </blockquote>





	like his daughter

**Author's Note:**

> **father**  
>  To me, it always seemed like Gou followed in her father's footsteps instead of Rin. In the end, Rin followed his own dream of going to the Olympics, even if he had the dream in the first place because of his father. But Gou, like her dad, stayed with her family, supported them and did her best to keep from falling apart.  
> IDK if this is _completely_ Gou-centric, but it is definitely _about_ Gou... so... I hope it works?

They sat on the boardwalk, their legs dangling over the rushing water. Sunset lighted the ripples the softest of reds and pinks; the sun shimmered golden over the edge as if reluctant to stop glowing. They were as reluctant to leave as the sun.

“I want a girl,” said Tora, brawn and brown under the darkening sky.

“Oh, you do?” said Shinju in a tone of amusement. Her hair was the warmest red down her back.

Tora shot her a look, half annoyed and half admiring as he took in the sight of her, burnished copper in the glow of the sunset. Her hand crept closer to his, index finger idly tracing the curlicues in the wood. Something warm erupted in his heart as her pinky finger brushed by his; but Tora ignored his blazing desire to kiss the fire princess at his side in lieu of lying on his back, casting his face into shadow. Shinju only smiled.

“What does _that_ mean?” asked Tora. “What about you?”

Shinju changed course to rest her hand on his propped knee; she turned to the sea.

“A boy,” she said matter-of-factly, and then laughed, giggles ringing clear in the quiet. “We’re so stereotypical.”

“Bite your tongue,” said Tora, offended. Shinju rolled her eyes.

“Face it, Tora,” she said, “we’re as typical as a couple can _get_.”

“I will do no such thing,” he snorted, jostling her with his leg. “It’s not true.”

“Oh yes, I’m completely pulling this out of my rear end, of course,” mocked Shinju. But her tone turned fond and indulgent as she gazed at Tora’s shadowed grumpy face. “Rich sheltered girl comes to charming port-town and falls in love with the poor, brilliant son of a fisherman.”

She reached and tweaked his nose, not pulling away when Tora caught her hand and held it to his lips. Her voice gentled. “Not cliché at all.”

For a while, all was suspended. The wind held its breath, frozen in the act of rifling through the branches of trees. The sea glittered static and stationary. The sun peeked over the edge of the earth, desperate for one last look at the happy town it was leaving. The moment shimmered, like heat haze over a car’s hood: and then the world resumed spinning.

“Our story sounds like a fairytale,” said Tora, cuddling Shinju to his chest like a toy. She put up with it, vaguely suffering. “It makes us unique.”

“Unique is common,” said Shinju self-deprecatingly. Tora hugged her tighter, as if to shut her up, but really he was just sniffing her hair. Shinju’s hair always smelled like flowers.

“Shut up, Shin. We’re one in a million, just accept it.” He buried his face in her neck, lips tickling the crook, and Shinju squeaked. “ _Say_ it.”

“Tora! N-not here – stop! Oh alright, alright, we’re one in a million! I said it, there!”

She shivered as he grazed his teeth along the nape of her neck then sighed when he pulled away. She rammed an elbow into his ribs, satisfied with his ‘ _oof_!’ and settled back into his arms.

The sky waned lilac, the distant edges curling indigo. She reflected that the way the heavens grew darker was much like ink spreading quickly through water; but color stopped in its tracks when it faced the moon, silver and gleaming in the early night sky.

“Why daughter?”

“I want a girl,” said Tora, “so she’ll be like me. Follow in _my_ footsteps. Plus,” he grinned, swift and sharp and overly confident, “the odds are already stacked high against a girl, so when she finally succeeds, it’ll taste so much sweeter to her. And me,” he added in afterthought.

“You’re such a guy,” sighed Shinju. Her fingers were tracing Tora’s palms again.

“And Shin?”

“I want a boy so he’ll be like _me_ ,” she said. Tora kissed her right on her smirk.

“ _Tora_.”

“Why would you want a boy who’s stubborn, annoying and has a head full of romantic ideals?”

Shinju snorted. “You’re one to talk, crybaby.”

He laughed. “In that case, I hope our son is like his mother.”

His hand covered hers, clasping them to her heart.

“Passionate, resilient, beautiful.”

He spoke with his lips against her ear, kissing the words into her skin until all she wanted were his lips exploring her neck. Her heart drummed against his palms.

“And our daughter will be strong. Hard-working, and determined. And she will always protect us. Like her father.”

Once more, the universe hushed. Each second trickled by as though melting through the cracks of time; each hung inert and quivering for several eons before passing. And way below the cosmic convergence of stars and fates and destiny, two lovers drew away still hazy with love. Shinju gazed around her, at the home of her heart, and grasped Tora’s hand. Tightly, desperately, as if they were parting. Tora’s grip tensed in hers.

“I hope we have a daughter,” said Shinju.


End file.
